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President Obama continues to exude grace and openness even in the face of a Republican Party that, from day one, has rooted for him to fail. He has been called a socialist, portrayed as Hitler, and for years had to listen to crazy birthers question whether he is even an American. What’s a shame is that John Boehner, someone who has a history of working across party lines, didn’t try to tamp down these bogus and hateful attacks.

So, I really give the president credit for reaching out to the Speaker and inviting him on this outing. Maybe this can be the spark that leads to greater bipartisanship, but I really doubt it. The fact is, Congressional Republicans, by and large, don’t respect the president. Even if Boehner and the president can form a solid working relationship, that won’t impact the majority of House Republicans who are more interested in pursuing a radical right wing ideology than finding ways to work with President Obama.

We’ll know if the speaker has a real interest in building a relationship with the president if he returns the gesture and invites Obama to Ohio to play on his course. For this weekend, my hope is they make it through 18 holes, have a few beers and then go have a ton of laughs watching Caddyshack.

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